Online lessons to fit your middle school science curriculum. A powerful tool for teachers and serious fun for students!
6th-8th Graders
Examine the fossil record and the incredible evolutionary mystery that led to Triceratops.
6th-8th Graders
Dive into current archaeological research to understand the activities and innovations of people living 1,000+ years ago.
6th-8th Graders
Launch your own investigation into the changes taking place in the Uinta Mountains. Are those changes
normal or not?
6th-8th Graders
Engage in real-world research from Utah’s world-renowned Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry.
6th-8th Graders
Study museum collections, guided by museum scientists, to explore ecosystem phenomena and the impacts of change.
Research Quest is a series of free online investigations created by the Natural History Museum of Utah for middle school teachers and students.These investigations engage your students in a variety of virtual museum activities designed by and featuring our all-star team of scientists and educators. The investigations will not only challenge your students with a real-world, phenomenon-based scientific mystery, they will also model how research scientists search for evidence and how they use critical thinking to answer scientific questions.
Next, your students will explore digitized museum collections and data to gather their own evidence for the research question at-hand. Depending on the investigation, your class might observe the nooks and crannies of a 3D image scan of a dinosaur jaw or examine aerial photos of pine trees to research the impacts of change in a montane environment. Throughout their work, your students will record their evidence and reasoning in their Research Assistant Notebooks, and test their ideas by sharing them with their classmates.
Brandy Beckman, Quest Academy, 6th-8th grades, CharterMy student's have been loving the Research Quest program designed by Natural History Museum of Utah. The interactive nature of the program keeps students completely engaged in their learning. Critical thinking skills are so important for student's to learn and this program is a perfect fit for that. My student's are asking all manner of questions, they are so caught up in the "mystery" they are solving, they hardly know they are learning crucial skills for their future. The format of the quest requires the students to write a hypothesis for all of their findings, which is great practice for a science or STEM fair. I would highly encourage any teacher who has the opportunity to participate in this program to do so as soon as they can.
It’s free!
Full access to all investigations and their activities.
Instructional Guides, Research Assistant Notebooks, and more for each investigation.
Assessment rubrics for student learning
Research Quest is a program of the Natural History Museum of Utah in partnership with The Utah Education Network
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